William Tyrrell investigation: The secret behind the Spiderman suit planted in the bush

Tyrell investigation update

Gary Jubelin’s investigation into the disappearance of William Tyrrell is the source of misconduct allegations. Credit: AAP/7NEWS

Gary Jubelin, the recently retired NSW Police homicide detective, spent last week in court at Sydney’s Downing Centre, defending charges arising from his work on the disappearance of 3-year-old William Tyrrell.

William disappeared from the sleepy town of Kendall in the NSW mid-north coast in September 2014.

His face, full of joy and laughter, and red Spiderman suit are etched in our memories, and it’s that suit that was a key point in this week’s hearing.

Day one in court

The case didn’t get off to a flying start.

The prosecution stumbled with a few problems, the most significant of which was that suppression orders from the current Coroner’s Inquest into William’s disappearance impeded some of the evidence being presented.

Journalists have been dealing with these orders for months, yet it seemed they were late-breaking news to the lawyers.

Magistrate Hudson said it was ‘disgraceful’ and adjourned until the next day.

Former NSW Detective Gary Jubelin arrives at the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney on Friday, February 7, 2020. Credit: PETER RAE/AAP

The barrister for the NSW Police Commissioner also sought suppression orders on a chunk of upcoming evidence.

If granted, most of the case would have been heard in a closed court – no public, no media, no reporting.

While it may have been to ensure some operational techniques were kept secret, the world weary might think it would also keep the murky politics of policing – a problem not confined to NSW as Victoria’s Lawyer X Royal Commission shows – in the shadows.

The application was not successful

The Spiderman suit secret

One of the techniques that became public was the placing of a Spiderman suit in the bush near where William disappeared and setting up surveillance.

It’s like going fishing, baiting your hook with something tempting, casting and waiting for a bite.

Using creative policing to stimulate a result is not uncommon.

Broadly, the first step is to assemble your suspect, or ‘persons of interest’ list and arrange both electronic and physical surveillance on them.

William Tyrrell in the Spiderman suit. Credit: AAP

That may include phone calls, online, where they travel to, who and where they meet and so on - all observed and recorded.

Then it’s time for the bait.

In the Tyrell, case it was a replica Spiderman suit in a reasonably conspicuous place.

Getting a result

If police get a bite, it may lead to an arrest, valuable intelligence to feed the investigation into a particular suspect or eliminate that suspect from the inquiry.

Investigation is a process of elimination.

Back in the early 2000s, Operation Taradale, the investigation into the murders and disappearances of gay men on the cliffs near Bondi, used some similarly creative detective work.

In one case, they had six suspects and enough evidence to get warrants to listen to their phones.

The cliffs near Bondi Beach (File). Credit: DEAN LEWINS/AAP

To stimulate conversation, they re-enacted the murder of a young man by throwing a dummy from the cliff. The dramatic event attracted media coverage, and phone calls between the players.

While the event didn’t lead to an arrest for murder, they got valuable intelligence of other crimes.